03/04/2026
What does CFSBK mean to you?
My favorite thing about CFSBK isn’t hitting a PR.
It’s the last stretch of a tough workout, when someone is grinding through their final reps and the whole room starts yelling their name. Clock’s running, everyone’s exhausted. And instead of packing up, people stay. They clap. They count. They shout. They cheer.
That moment feels like practice for how to live.
We come to do hard things on purpose. Most of the hard things in life aren’t chosen–illness, uncertainty, responsibility, loss. But CFSBK is different. Here, we opt in. We practice discomfort in a room full of other people doing the same.
Over time, I’ve realized the workout is just the excuse for being here, the container. The real work is deciding what you’re going to do with your energy when someone else is struggling. And I’ve learned that lesson from people in this gym.
Watching , , and confront illness with steadiness and presence changed how I think about resilience. They didn’t hide it or perform it. They calmly and openly stayed with it. That kind of composure teaches the rest of us how to face our own hard things.
once told me he spent years in the Navy fixing aircraft carrier catapults and now his guiding question is: “Where can I be of service?” That question lingers. Erin has devoted her career to changing the systems that create homelessness. Being around people who orient their lives around usefulness grounds and focuses you.
In a time when the future can feel murky, the gym offers present-centered joy. contagious love of puzzling. generous handstand coaching. playful rubber duck warmups. What gives me strength? Seeing so many expressions of endurance, service, and joy in one place.
I used to spend a lot of energy worrying about being too intense. CFSBK didn’t shrink that. It redirected it.
Now I try to aim it outward–cheering loudly, clapping for the last finisher, learning something from everyone.
The workout is just the container.
The real work is deciding what you’re going to do with your energy when someones struggling.
